Machine for forming leaders



1950 J. w. HARVEY MACHINE FOR FORMING LEADERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledDec. 2, 1946 INVEN TOR Jame: [If/Harvey ORNEY u i Qsl niiimwlllllllllllllllHllll m-m nun-u M II" w n I? unmllm H" I &\

Aug. 15, 1950 J. w. HARVEY 2,513,537

MACHINE FOR FORMING LEADERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 2, 1946 gig?vention.

has t r d le der Patented Aug. 15, 1950 UNITED STATES OFFICE -AT?ENT 1Claims- 1 The operation of knotting or tying together short length or rads o gut or synthetic ma,- terial su h as nylon filaments to formleaders has been here ofore one by hand wi h perhaps nly a wire or nailas an abutment or a crochet hook.

It has also been cust ma y t pl y a ha n of opera ions n or er t (1.complet th tyin to eether of several strands to form a leader, (2)straighten the leaders, (3) coil the leaders and (-21) p ate the coils.in nve opes and. 5. ace ea h envelope in a bo A in l ad r may nsist ofiron; tw strands to e eral s r n s w ich may vary irom 95." to eQ 5" P plar len ths of lead rs a e 3 oo 7 foot, 7 /2 foot, 9 root arid 112 fo tbut tha is i mat ri l to my spanish gu some m c es lengths of 17" and ari ial ch a ny is gene ally so d i l ng hs of about 20" for mak- Itshould be und r t od, however, tha so .iar as my inventi n s con e n dthe size and length of strand is immaterial, The

tying Di the knots by hand is a slow process and on accoun oi the verysmall size of filamen and the very light translucent coloring the oper:ation is extrem ly trying to the eye and mu time is los b the neo ssityfor resting he ey rom time t tim I have accordingly sought to providemocha,

t facilitate th tying of uniform and ef tive 11 11 1 5 and to relieve thop rat of th he ss oi; the pre ou y m n t ttention r qu r d,

I have also sou h to ensure prope g adin of sizes of the st ands of ut,et when mak ng tapered leaders.

I ha e also sought to expedite t work o h a reater uantity can be turn dout at less expens Aooordingly, the p ferred fo m o meoha= ni ih a loopis u uall firs formed in the usual way i on the nd of lar es l adersectio which is then. nser ed thr u h a ho low ub 1 ha e provid d seat gop rs for th stra d with an abutment constituting an eye holder betweenthem and twis the filaments e w n he hold a d the rip s so a o orm an yeo p of the twis ed strands on the h ld between the r pers, The tips ofthe rand re hen disen eased fr m h rip ers nd secur d to th h l r abovethe eyet-wisted s ands are then pulled from the ho dertip being held bythe holder re ti e pass d th ough he eye as it leaves the holde Th kn tis hus s a ted and is oornploted by pulling t h ly o the wo sec i s ofthe leader and hen clipping the tips at the lrnot, Th leader s rands tobe us d a e m un e in tubes across the front of the machine so that theyhas be grade f om he smal t at he p of the leader to the largestdiameter. By arranging these tub s so that they an he slid alone frright to left as each size s used I avoid the likel hood oi impropegradin soon as the leader is complete it is coiled on a reel or drum.When using gut which must be ed While wet I co l he leader und r tension. a heated c lin ri al d um so that all the kinks are ta en o oi it hie th next le d is being f m d, I comes o t d um in a coil all r a y tobe placed in an n e ope and box d mm dia ely- Fla .1 is a frontelevation of a mac in on which leaders may e forme from strands of ou orartificial strands such as nylon,

Fi 2 is a plan view of the sam Fig, 34 is a longitudinal section of amodificati n- Fig. 3 is an end elevation viewed from the right of ig,.1.-

Fig. l is a plan iew on a larger scale showin a entra bu ment and. tw sand h lders with the adjacent ends of two strands to be united as the arhel in the mac ne at t start of ope ations- Fie- 5. is a side viewshowing the stran s twisted.

Fla 6 is a side view showing the stran wist d and their releas d. f mthe sp d holder Fig. 7 sh ws the knot started, the tip f th strm .ds inhel by the c n ral jaw Fig. 8 is an nlarged levat on v ew how ng hecentral. abutment with. its jaw Figs, 9 and 10 show two forms, offinished knots.

Th holders it and H ar pr f r bly of s ft rubber each having slots orslits I2 and I3 for resiliently holding the strands it and 1 and l4 maybe regard d as the first an e t strand of a tapered leader. Strand Hi isshown of exag erated siz in rder o more re ily distinguish it from thenext smaller size of strand. strand M s seemed n e h ders so that itsrear end'extends an inch or two to the right of holder H. The iront endof the second strand I5 suitable material and has three wires l1, l8 and[3. The two outer wires I8, [8 are resilient and tapered toward thecenter wire at their tips as shown in Fig. 8 so as to facilitate tuckingthe ends of the strands between the wire I1 and wires I8, I 8 as will behereinafter explained.

The holders and II are mounted in cups 20 and 2| secured on the ends ofshafts 22 and 23 which are supported rotatably in the blocks 24 and 25.These shafts have pinions 26 and 21 which are driven from gears 28 and29 on the counter shaft 30. In order to have one shaft rotate in theopposite direction to the other I employ an idler 3i interposed betweenone gear and its pinion for instance between gear 29 and pinion 21. Theratio of gear 21 to 25 and 26 to 28 may be conveniently set at 1 to 3for tying gut and 1 to 4, or vice versa, for tying nylon strands so thata single turn of gear 29 (which has a handle 32) will produce therequisite number of twists in the knot. The gears can be turned by handor by power if desired.

Shaft 22 is hollow so that a strand can be fed through it and avoidtangling. A hook member 33 may be supported on the end of an arm 34 sothat it can slide through shaft 22 to a point accessible near holder 10.Arm 34 is guided in a sleeve 35 and held under bias of a spring 36against the rubber buffer 31.

At the start of a leader, a loop is tied in any suitable manner on theend of the strand which is to be the line end of the leader. This loopis hooked on to the hook 33 and the arm 34 is pulled to the left by handthus pulling the first strand length through the hollow shaft 22 butleaving just enough of the strand projecting to the right to enable itto be tucked into the holders i0 and II as above described (see Fig. 4).

The front end of the second strand is then tucked into the holders i0and H. When the strands are twisted a central eye or loop I6 is thusformed about the central abutment I6. The tips of the strands M and arethen pulled out of the slots 52, I2 in the holders and pulled down inplace between the wire grippers l8, l8 and ll of Fig. 8 as shown in Fig.6. The strands l4 and 55 are then slipped out of slots l3, l3 of theholders l 0 and I l and pulled up by hand as shown in Fig. 7, the tipsof the strands remaining in the grip of the wire jaws of the abutment.This starts the knot which is completed by pulling the main parts of thestrands I4|5 in opposite directions until the tips of the strands arereleased from the center abutment l6 and the turns of strands are drawnclose together. The tips of the strands are then snipped off close tothe coil of the knot. By tying the knot in this way both tips come outat the same point as shown in Fig. 9 and can be snipped oifsimultaneously.

By dividing the central abutment into two parts for holding the tips ofthe strands separately and drawing one tip upward through the eye I6formed at the center by the twisting operation while the other is ineffect drawn downwardly I can bring the tips of the strands out onopposite sides of the knot if desired as shown in Fig. 10.

By mounting a reel or drum 40 on the end of gear 28 it is possible tocoil up the completed leader without moving from the machine.

A coiling drum 60 may be mounted on the hollow shaft 22 as shown in Fig.2c and in place of the hook 33 for pulling the first strand through theshaft I may provide a funnel 22 which permits the operator to readilyinsert the first strand from the left toward the right to engage the 4holders i0 and H. The drum 40 may be provided with a hook e3 for theattachment of the loop on the end of the finished leader. By rotatingthe drum ii! the leader can be quickly coiled upon it.

In making tapered leaders it is highly important that the proper sizesbe assembled in proper sequence. As examples, I suggest for a mediumheavy trout leader successive sizes of .017 0.15", .013", .011 and .009and for an extra light trout leader .012, .010, .008", .007 and .006".For this reason I provide a series or row of tubular containers 4 I 42,43 etc. for the bundles of strands each being marked with its size e. g..016, .113, .111 etc. and arrange them in sequence from left to rightacross the front of the machine where they are slidable in a guide way44. At the start all the containers are slid to the right and each ismoved to the left as its strand is used. When the leader is finished allthe containers are moved back to the right.

The vertical containers for the strands may also be carried by aturntable or drum rotatable on a vertical axis beneath the bench onwhich the tyer is mounted, the front edge of the drum projecting beyondthe edge of the bench so that the containers can be brought into anexposed position in sequence. This drum can be driven by the countershaft.

When handling gut the containersare filled with water as it is necessaryto keep the strands wet while tying the knots. After each knot has beentied the last strand is pushed through the tubular shaftand its rear endtucked into the holders ready to be connected with the next strand andso on till the leader is completed.

As soon as a gut leader is complete it is wound under tension on a drum40 or 50 which may be heated and left there until set in a coil form.Whereupon it can be immediately tucked in an envelope and placed in abox.

It should also be understood that the heating and coiling of gut leadersmay be effected as separate operations.

The machine may be operated by hand as herein shown and described or thegears may be power driven in any suitable manner (not shown) andprovided with clutch and control devices so that the rotation may bestarted by pressing a button or lever and stopped automatically when thedesired number of twists have been made.

The two rubber holders are preferably geared together so that they canbe driven by one hand as shown or by p0wer-but they could be drivenindependently.

The rubber holders and the central abutment and wire jaws may also beused without the driving mechanism. In such a case the holders would beheld stationary in any suitable base and the abutment inserted betweenthe strands as shown in Fig. 4 and used as a tool for twisting thestrands, and then attached to the base while the knot is tied as shownin my Patent No. 2,469,037. 7

By rotating the holders in the same direction to twist the strands, thebarrel knot which is formed will have its coils inclined in oppositedirections on opposite sides of the center as shown in Fig. 9. Byrotating the holders in opposite directions when twisting the strandsthe coils will all be inclined in the same direction as shown in Fig.10. When the tips of both strands are pulled through the central eye inthe same direction as shown in Fig. 7 the tips will come out together asshown in Fig. 9. By pulling the tips through the central eye or loop ofthe strands in opposite directions the tips will come out on oppositesides of the knot as shown in Fig. 10.

I claim:

1. In a leader tyer, two spaced holders havin resilient jaws forgripping portions of the ends of leader sections to be joined, means forrotating said holders about a common axis, and a fixed separator holdersupported between said jaws having gripping members about which the 1leader sections are twisted and form an eye and between which membersthe ends of the leader sections are held while the main parts of thetwisted leader sections are drawn over the separator thus passing thefree ends through the central eye of the twisted leader sections.

2. In a leader tyer, two spaced soft rubber holders slitted to receivestrands to be twisted and an intermediate abutment having means forholding the strands separated to form an eye when the strands aretwisted between the holders and having means for gripping the tips ofthe strands while the twisted strands are pulled from the abutment andthe eye of the strands is drawn over the tips to start the knot.

3. In a knot tyer two spaced strand holders each having two resilientjaws to hold short lengths of two strands to be joined, an abutmentbetween said holders with gripping means and means for rotating saidstrand holders in opposite directions so as to twist the strands aboutsaid abutment, and form an eye which can be drawn from said abutment andat the same time draw the tips of the strands through said eye to starta knot.

4. In a leader tyer a pair of spaced holders for holding lengths ofstrands, an abutment between the holders around which said strands canbe twisted, means for creating relative rotation between said abutmentand said holders for twisting strands held by said holders, one of saidholders having a tubular support and a hook reciprocable through saidtubular support for engaging and drawing an end loop of a strand throughsaid support.

5. In a barrel knot tyer, two holders spaced apart from each other andeach having two jaws for gripping overlapped strands, a stationarycentral member between said holders and means for rotating said holdersand twisting the strands held by said rotated holders about said centralmember, said central member having resilient jaws for holding the tipsof said strands after the strands have been twisted.

6. In a machine for tying barrel knots, two strand'holding devicesspaced apart from each other, each device having resilient means forgripping parallel strands to be connected, a rotatable supporting shaftfor each gripping device, said shafts being co-axial and arranged inalinement and said means for gripping the parallel strands being offsetfrom the axis of said shafts, a stationary abutment having resilientgripping means mounted between said spaced holding devices and means forrotating said holding devices equally and simultaneously while saidabutment is stationary.

7. In a machine for tying barrel knots, two strand holding devicesspaced apart from each other, each device having resilient means forgripping parallel strands to be connected by barrel knots, a rotatablesupporting shaft for each gripping device, said shafts being arranged inalinement, one of said shafts being hollow to permit passage of strands,an abutment having resilient strand gripping means mounted between saidspaced holding devices and means for rotating said holding devices whilesaid abutment is stationary.

8. A barrel knot tyer comprising two spaced pairs of strand holdingmembers, each member I: having soft rubber strand-engaging jaws, a

central stationary abutment member supported between the pairs of strandholding members, said abutment member having means for holding twostrands in position spaced apart from each other and means forrelatively moving said jaws so as to twist strands held thereby equallyon opposite sides of said abutment member.

9. A barrel knot tyer comprising a frame, two pairs of strand-holdingrelatively rotatable jaws spaced apart from each other, a stationaryabutment member supported midway between the pairs of jaws, means fortwisting strands equally on opposite sides of said abutment member, saidabutment member having means for holding the strands apart whiletwisting to permit the ends of twisted strands to be passed throughbetween the twisted strands.

10. A barrel knot tyer comprising a stationary abutment member forspacing the ends of two strands to be joined together, means at eachside of said abutment member for gripping portions of the two strands tobe joined, means for simultaneously rotating said gripping means andtwisting said strands equally at each side of said abutment member andforming an eye about the abutment member, said abutment member havingjaws for holding the ends of the twisted strands while other portions ofthe strands are disengaged from the gripping means and pulled away fromeach other and the twisted portions are stripped from the abutmentmember and the ends of the strands drawn through the eye of the twistedstrands.

JAMES W. HARVEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 536,031 I-Iood Mar. 19, 1895676,573 Bowers June 18, 1901 789,467 West May 9, 1905 1,452,906 Butleret al Apr. 24, 1923 1,691,165 Neidich Nov. 13, 1928 1,714,946 Byrd May28, 1929 2,143,748 Webster et al Jan. 10, 1939 2,402,609 Brabander June25, 1946- 2,469,037 Harvey May 3, 1949

